


A Guide on How to Fix Your Broken Marriage (feat. The Ponds)

by freeshipping



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Canon, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 18:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freeshipping/pseuds/freeshipping
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A speculation on what happened with Amy and Rory following the events in "Asylum of the Daleks"</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Guide on How to Fix Your Broken Marriage (feat. The Ponds)

It had been eleven hours since Amy and Rory had returned from the dalek asylum, and Rory was still awake.

He was glad that Amy had taken him back. No, he was _ecstatic_ \-- but something was still wrong. It was four in the morning and he was still awake, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling in a dead sweat. Amy was asleep next to him, snoring softly as she always had. He had grown accustomed to the silence in the months they had been apart, but the quiet rumble fit back into his life like a missing puzzle piece. He was surprised by how much he had missed the little things.

The window was open and the fan was on, but Rory was still too warm. It was August 20th, far too late for it to be this hot. He finally rolled off the bed and padded quietly down the hall to the bathroom.

When he got out of the shower, Amy was gone. He sat down on the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do. She certainly hadn’t left him again (it was her house, after all), but she must have seen that he was up and decided she didn’t feel like interacting with him that early in the morning. He dropped onto the bed dejectedly, gathering Amy’s sheets into his arms and breathing in her lingering scent.

It was two more hours before he finally felt like moving again, throwing on a tee-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and dragging himself to the kitchen. Some of his clothes had remained at Amy’s house after the breakup, a fact which he was now grateful for. He helped himself to a bowl of cereal and sat at the breakfast bar while contemplating his life choices.

“I need a gesture,” he told himself. Rory had gotten into a bad habit of talking to himself when Amy wasn’t around. “I need something to show her that I don’t…. I don’t mind if she can’t have children.”

He took another bite of his cereal. “Because I don’t, I don’t care. She’s Amy, and I, I…” He trailed off, wondering what exactly he could do.

He spent two hours pacing around the living room, looking at the pictures lining the walls and smiling to himself because even though she may have been upset, she hadn’t taken a single picture down. He picked up a picture of the two of them from right after Amy had landed her first modelling job. They had gone out to dinner to celebrate, just a simple date on the waterfront, and their waiter had offered to snap a picture to commemorate the moment. Amy’s face was flushed and happy, her red hair half falling out of a messy bun. Rory had one arm around her shoulders and the other was holding her hand, with his lips pressed into her hair. His eyes were closed in the picture, and he remembered feeling so happy and so proud.

And so normal.

Two thousand years, that’s how long he had waited for her, fighting against all odds to keep her safe. Their lives for the past few years had been a whirlwind of excitement and mystery and although it had been fun, none of it had felt very real. Rory was still waiting to come down from the high of being chased by an alien race that none of his friends and neighbors even knew existed.

Rory’s reality wasn’t about traveling with the Doctor and it never had been; his reality was Amy, and Amy alone.

He had to get her back. More importantly, he had to keep her. Without a second thought, he threw on a set of clean clothes and marched out the door.

His first thought was to get flowers. But that was so unoriginal, and Amy was constantly being sent generic gifts like that from her numerous fans. Rory had to do something better, something genuine, and (more importantly) something non-Doctor-related. This had to be about them: Rory and Amy, Amy and Rory. The Ponds.

He entered the first shop he came to without a clue as to what he would purchase.

 

Amy had had to get out. With Rory in the shower, she had been able to slip out without having to interact at all. She knew she was acting like a selfish brat, but her head was swimming and she didn’t know what else to do.

She took her clothes and makeup to a cafe down the street and used their bathroom to change, ordering a coffee and eating donuts while she watched the sun rise over the river. She loved Rory, of course she did, and she hoped to God that he had been telling the truth when he had told her that he didn’t care if she couldn’t have children. After all, they could always adopt a child if need be.

Life would go on, and Amy knew that. She would continue working as a model, and Rory would continue his nursing. It was what he was good at, after all: taking care of people. Amy was beginning to worry that no one would take care of him.

“Something the matter?” Amy snapped out of her daze and lifted her eyes to meet the gaze of a young waitress, probably in her early twenties, who had stopped by to refill her coffee.

“I, uh, sort of. It’s no problem, really.” Amy was having a hard time putting her feelings into words.

The waitress set down the coffee pot, studying Amy’s facial expression. “Would it help for you to talk about it?”

“I, um, maybe. It all started out with this guy…”

“Doesn’t it always?”

Amy smiled slightly. “Yeah. Well, in my case it was two guys. One of them, he’s the kind of guy who is so exciting, constantly going on adventures and dragging you along with him. Which I enjoyed, I really did… but then there’s this other guy, Rory, and Rory is just so damn loyal. He’s like a puppy, he’s so caring and kind and big-hearted. But at the same time, he can be so brave, and he doesn’t let people push him around, you know?”

“Let me guess -- you had to choose?”

“Sort of.” Amy swallowed and looked down at her coffee, pitch black and bittersweet. “The first guy, he’s my best friend in the whole universe. I made my choice a long time ago, and I chose to spend my life with Rory, but I feel like this other friend of ours just kept interfering. Something happened… awhile ago, I had an accident, and…”

Amy sniffed and realized she had started to cry. “I can’t have children,” she whispered, “I can’t ever give children to the man I love, and I can’t help thinking that the accident never would have happened if I hadn’t met that friend of mine to begin with. I got so upset about it, and I kicked Rory out, but I think we might be back together again, and I just…” She put her head in her hands, breaking down and sobbing at the table.

She felt a soothing hand on her shoulder. “You’re blaming yourself, Amy. You know, sometimes accidents are just accidents, and there’s isn’t anything you can do about it. Friends forgive each other unconditionally, as hard as that may be.”

Amy nodded, wiping her nose on a napkin. “I know, I know that. I did, I forgave my friend, and I’m over blaming myself. Now I’m just so worried that I’ve screwed things up with Rory. I made my choice, and I want to spend my life with him, but I’m so awful at putting these things into words. How am I supposed to let him know how much he means to me when I can barely admit it to myself?”

The waitress shook her head slightly, smiling to herself. “Amelia, you don’t need to do anything grand or fantastic. Just tell him how you feel. Use your words, isn’t that what they always say?”

Amy nodded thoughtfully, and she knew that waitress was right. Amy had been holding back from Rory, not telling him the full truth or her feelings. That was why he had thought she loved him less than he loved her, even though Amy knew that that wasn’t remotely true.

“Thank you,” she said finally, and the waitress smiled and took Amy’s now-empty cup of coffee.

“It was my pleasure, Amy.”

It was only after she had walked away that Amy realized she had never told the waitress her name.

 

Amy practically ran home after she got out of work. She threw her long hair into a messy ponytail and threw her heels into her bag, taking the route barefoot. It was only six blocks from her office to her house.

“Rory!” she shouted as soon as she burst through the door, “Where are you, you stupid face? I have to tell you something!”

She heard a weak call from the kitchen. “In here.” She dropped her bag on the sofa and raced through the house, stopping dead in her tracks when she reached the kitchen.

Covering every surface were bags and boxes of numerous shapes and sizes. Amy’s jaw dropped as she stared at the towers of hastily-wrapped gifts. “What the hell…?”

Rory blushed slightly, leaning sheepishly against the counter. “I wanted to get something but I… I may have panicked and I accidentally got you everything.”

Amy stifled a laugh. She was completely speechless.

“Did you, um, want to tell me something?” Rory asked after a moment of silence.

“Yeah,” Amy breathed, inching her way through the cramped kitchen until she was standing next to Rory. “Rory, I love you.”

He looked confused. “I know--”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, I love you. As in the love to end all the loves, the one I want to spend every waking moment with for the rest of my life. And I know that sounds cheesy and overdone, but I don’t think I’ve made it clear enough to you.”

Rory took in a shaky breath, and Amy could see him struggling for words. “I feel like I should apologize. I didn’t mean to make you think I needed anything from you, Amy, because I really don’t. You are my world, and you always have been.”

Amy could feel herself tearing up again, the second time that day. Damn it, she usually didn’t cry this easily. “I know, Rory. Oh god, I know.” She collapsed onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on for her life. She felt clingy and needy and whiny, but she hardly cared. This was Rory, her Rory, and she never wanted to let go. “I need you, Rory. These last few months have been so hard. I always took you for granted, and I never want to do that again.”

His arms came around her, his fingers digging into her back and his face buried in her neck. He was whispering something, over and over again, and it took her a few minutes to realize what he was repeating.

“Rory!” she pulled back, staring at him. “Stop apologizing! None of this was your fault, you don’t have to be sorry.”

She realized his face was as wet as hers, and she suddenly found the whole situation strangely comical. “This is stupid,” she said quietly, a slow smile spreading across her face, “I’ve been stupid. You’ve been stupid. This whole thing… I feel so cheesy and ridiculous.”

Rory laughed shakily. “Yeah, I guess it is.” The oven timer went off before he could say anything else.

“What’s in the oven?”

“Um… I made you cookies.” Rory pulled the tray out of the oven and looked up at Amy, and she couldn’t but burst out laughing at his sheepish expression.

“You… on top of all this,” she remarked, standing back and gazing around at the messy kitchen, “You made me cookies. Rory Williams, you are one hell of a man.” She stepped forward and Rory barely had enough time to put the cookie sheet down before Amy had her lips pressed against his in a messy, passionate kiss. Both of their faces were still wet with tears, but their mouths fit together as perfectly as he could remember. Amy’s skin was warm and he felt her arms slide up around his neck, her fingers twining into his hair.

When she pulled away, Rory realized he was still wearing oven mitts and an apron. He hastily threw them on the counter and scooped her back up in his arms, burying his face in her neck and breathing in her smell. It amazed him how he could know someone so well and get so used to her, yet still cherish every little thing about her. Her scent, her body, her voice, even the way she carried herself… he would never get sick of it.

Amy laughed quietly against him, and he drew back to look at her. “What?”

“I was just thinking,” she replied, “Maybe we should open up a few of these presents.”

He grinned. “Yeah, we can’t let them go to waste.

 

Twenty minutes later, Amy and Rory were cuddled up in the living room with fresh cookies and steaming mugs of hot chocolate, boxes and torn wrapping paper peppering the surfaces around them.

Although they knew they would never be a normal married couple, they would always have these rare moments of peace to appreciate. Amy knew, as she rested her head on Rory’s shoulder and felt his fingers stroke back her hair, that she could never forget her raggedy man. And Rory knew, as he drew a blanket up around them and felt Amy curl into the warmth, that he could never love anything as much as the fiery Scottish woman he had known since childhood.

So the Ponds settled in for the evening knowing that there would be many more adventures ahead, but enjoying their own little bubble of warmth for the few hours of comfort it would provide. They could sense, although they didn’t know yet where they were going, that their lives wouldn’t end normally. There could be no pleasant ending for the Ponds, so they had to enjoy it while they could.

And they did enjoy it.

 


End file.
